Measles outbreak plagues refugees

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - Thousands of Afghans, fleeing a bitter civil war in northern Afghanistan, have been hit by diseases, including measles and malaria, an international aid group said Monday.

The Swedish Committee for Afghanistan, a key international aid group operating in Afghanistan's war-ravaged northern region, issued a statement in neighboring Pakistan saying hundreds of Afghan children died of measles earlier this year.

A fresh outbreak of measles has been reported among the estimated 80,000 Afghans fleeing fighting in the northern Takhar province, according to the statement.

Refugees also are suffering from malaria, diarrhea and malnutrition because of polluted water and poor sanitation, it said.

The Taliban, in a string of victories in recent weeks, captured most of Takhar province, located on Afghanistan's northern frontier with the Central Asian state of Tajikistan. But the opposition said Sunday it had taken back two strategic districts.

Emergency medical supplies have been sent to Faizabad, the opposition-controlled capital of northeastern Badakhshan province, the Swedish Committee statement said. The group operates 40 clinics in the provinces of Takhar, Badakhshan, Kunduz and Baghlan.

The Swedish Committee said it will begin vaccinating children against measles. It hopes to reach about 30,000 children.

More than 900 people, mostly children, died in a measles epidemic in northern Afghanistan last winter, the World Health Organization reported.

The Taliban Deputy Health Minister Sher Abbas Stanikzai asked the international community on Monday to help fight diseases in Afghanistan.

The Taliban and the United Nations have launched a program to combat malaria, measles and diarrhea, he told reporters in the Afghan capital Kabul.

"But we need more foreign assistance to fight these diseases effectively," he said.

Afghanistan, devastated by 21 years of civil war, is one of the world's poorest countries.

The Taliban rule more than 95 percent of Afghanistan, which is roughly the size of Texas. They are sharply criticized for their strict interpretation of Islam.